Posted on 08/14/2007 5:25:39 AM PDT by Turret Gunner A20
A clown has had the smile wiped off his face after being told he couldn't use balloons in his act because children might be allergic to latex. Barney Baloney said he was told by bosses at a supermarket where he was booked to appear that he should leave his balloons at home because of the potential for allergic reactions.
The 47-year-old entertainer, also known as Tony Turner, has previously had to ditch his bubble-making machine because he could not get public liability insurance as companies assessed that youngsters might slip and hurt themselves.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Disgusting!!!
Are they kidding???? I’m stunned into silence on this one. Why don’t we just take our kids and lock them in their sterilized rooms until they’re 30??
Simple. If you kids are allergic to latex, keep ‘em away from latex balloons. Oh, never mind. That would require responsibility and we cannot have that in a nanny state.
They might trip over his big shoes too
And his big nose could be offensive.
I went to see a clown at the supermarket. He was a nice man in a suit and tie who sat on a box, surrounded by children. He didn't do, or say anything. He just sat. And we watched. For about 45 minutes. It was a wonderful time. I was mildly offended, however.
In other words, lobbing off heads with swords is not considered violent.
It’s amazing that we of my (youngish geezer) generation actually lived through balloons, bubbles and DDT!
“He said he was also told by one venue he could not twist balloons into the shape of guns for fear of encouraging youngsters to commit violence, although swords were deemed acceptable”
Although it’s ok to twist baloons into phallic symbols, because we have to educate the chillllllllldren.
And.. cap guns, bb guns, toy soldiers, girls played with Barbie and boys played with GI Joe... We had peanut butter sandwiches in school and said the Pledge of Allegience to the American flag every morning. We didn’t have “Black History Month”, “Women’s History Month” nor did we watch Algore films in Science. We had to do chores and my mother would pop you in the mouth for using the word “crap” (child abuse by today’s standards). Teachers paddled us for talking in class - a good deterent because my Art teacher had a mean right arm!
Man, it is a wonder that those of us who grew up in previous generations arent totally screwed up!
Article here: http://tinyurl.com/36zm5w
Gosh, I’m wondering how we made it through childhood now. We brought peanut butter sandwiches to school, played with balloons, our toys had sharp edges, we played outside in the dirt (and sometimes skinned our knees) - not to mention that a lot of our toys had small parts. I could go on & on.
This is getting ridiculous - there is hardly anything in this world that could be said to be 100% safe! Guess what? Life kills! If you live long enough - you will die!
This is craziness!
I was on one of the last airliners to pass out peanuts a while back. Suddenly they announced that someone on the plane had “peanut allergies” so we were instructed not to open our peanuts and they’d be by to pick them up again. Of course I had a pocket full of these peanuts from previous flights, etc. We weren’t allowed to eat peanuts on the flight. They acted like it was anthrax or something worse.
“Pleasant childhood memories from 2027:
I went to see a clown at the supermarket. He was a nice man in a suit and tie who sat on a box, surrounded by children. He didn’t do, or say anything. He just sat. And we watched. For about 45 minutes. It was a wonderful time. I was mildly offended, however.”
Try out this alternative childhood memory from 2027:
I went to see a clown at the supermarket. He was a nice man in a suit and tie who sat on a box, surrounded by children. He handed out latex balloons to children who were watching his show. Another child, 2 years old, who was not watching the show but instead just entering the store with his Mom to buy milk, sees the children with the balloons, runs over to them and tries to take one. He is not old enough to know that he is allergic to latex and balloons can kill him. He goes into shock, and the ambulance is called. What happens next?
Aah, memories.
It is as bad as anthrax for a peanut allergic person. It can kill the person, even if just by ingestion/inhalation of peanut dust.
Here's where I got it:
http://www.drudgereport.com/
"This is a health and safety issue.
"We have banned balloons because latex is used in the manufacture of them, and this can trigger an allergic reaction in some children. We always have the welfare of children at heart.''
What about all of the other things kids might be allergic to & that are found in a supermarket? Is Tesco clearing the aisles of all the wheat products, stuff with eggs in them, anything with peanuts/ peanut products, fresh flowers....?
I don't remember this being such a HUGE issue when I was a child. Is it on the increase or just another media-driven crisis item?
It's a conspiracy, I say! ;-)
(Actually, I have been able to tolerate the clowns we see sometimes in Cirque de Soliel, but I think it's because they are more "Old World" in their costumes. I know...I'm just strange.)
INCREDIBLE!!!!! But, I'll bet they didn't let you play tag at recess, did they?
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